We already knew about Rick Warren’s connection to Uganda’s odious “Kill the Gays” bill, but a new report claims some other big shots in America’s evangelical Christian community are pitching in behind-the-scenes to help push homophobic legislation throughout Africa.

Published by the progressive think tank Political Research Associates, Colonizing African Values: How the U.S. Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa connects evangelical superstars like Pat Robertson and mainstream Catholic and Mormon groups of setting up shop across the continent with the intention of “fanning the flames of the culture wars over homosexuality.”

In other words, Americans are no longer listening to their horseshit so they’re shipping it overseas.

Joseph Okia, nephew of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, has spoken of “a close intellectual and mentoring relationship” between Christian conservatives in the U.S. and religious and political leaders in his homeland.

When religious indoctrination meets with local superstition, outrageous lies become common sense—like the idea that homosexuals recruit in schools. “Those kind of lies, when presented in Africa, become factual, so we need to worry that they are misleading people with these lies,” Rev. Kapya Kaoma, an Anglican priest in Zambia and author of the study.

As chief culprits, Kaoma singles out Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice, the Mormon-led Family Watch International and the Catholic Church’s Human Life International—all of which have expanded their reach in the region in the past several years. In the same time frame, Malawi, Nigeria and Burundi have all passed anti-gay laws. And Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” law, once thought defeated, was reintroduced in parliament in February.

Ugh, can’t we tell Robertson et al there are homosexuals on Mars who need to be discriminated against?

“In other words, Americans are no longer listening to their horseshit so they’re shipping it overseas.”

Ummmm, no. You might want to check the laws in most states, which ban gay marriage and gay adoptions, to say nothing of DOMA. You might also want to look at Rick Santorum’s having front-runner status until recently, along with Mitt leading the polls against Obama and being anti-gay, as well. You might also want to look at the Boy Scouts, and the anti-gay beatings and hate crimes, among other things.

Americans ARE listening. And they definitely believe. Horseshit or not.

Jul 24, 2012 at 11:30 pm · @Reply ·

skeloric

@Colin:
I’d say that there is truth in the line.
There is a powerful tidal wave of Equality and Equal Rights currently being held at bay by groups like NOM, AFA and OMM.
While discrimination is still strong all over the US, more and more often it is enacted by narrower and narrower margins.
We are arriving at the point where the ‘easy victories’ of a decade ago for the discriminators are instead suddenly becoming narrow defeats.
The margin by which they are defeated IS growing.
Entire states can now actually disprove their lies.
They are losing the war.
Their lies no longer hold the power they once held in this country.
While I find them utterly despicable, I also fully understand the issue of why they are getting the hell out and transitioning to Africa.
They NEED a solid foundation from which to regain what they are losing.
So their eyes turn towards Africa, the one continent so completely and utterly abused throughout the colonial period and indeed throughout much of history, that it is ripe for such lies that these supposed ‘men of faith’ are willing to craft in order to gain and retain power.
Africa is roughly about 1/8th of the world population?
1/6th?
One HELL of a lot of people to mold into an ‘army of hate’.
Which continually happens throughout much of Africa already.
So with a populace already predisposed towards being easily manipulated and abused and then in turn unleashing that abuse upon others…
Eventually, at least in NeoCon-wingnut-land, they might have an ‘army’ with which to return and ‘reconquer America’ in the name of the ‘Almighty Homophobic Hate’ that they worship.
Do I think that such a crazy scenario will come to pass?
Hell no.
But I recognize the disturbing possibility that THEY believe.
Worse, the damage they do?
Their actions are invisible in exactly the sort of way that the African people need to believe that they arrived at the beliefs on their own.
Making the beliefs all the more difficult to dislodge by “outside” means.
The continent is not very enamored of Europe or the US exactly due to the past abuses heaped upon them in the colonial era.
They will therefore vehemently resist ‘outsiders’ (AKA Europeans or the US) trying to take away their ‘culture’ and ‘beliefs’ of which homophobia is becoming a major foundational piece.
Imagine, 100 years from now, certain hard right ‘wingnut’ politicians standing firm upon an ‘invented’ history of African Homophobia as being the solid reasoning behind continual attacks upon the Equal Rights we are still at this moment fighting for.
Over 140 years ago (1865), Slavery was ended in the US.
Over 40 years ago (1965), the Civil Rights ended segregation in the US.
Right now?
There are groups in the US that still work to undermine BOTH accomplishments.
Imagine if there was an entire continent that supported their beliefs.
Imagine that those believers could then immigrate to this country and teach those belief to their children and those children grew up as a sort of ‘5th column’ within this nation.
Eventually, such an endeavor could succeed.
So, I’m very concerned about what is happening in Africa.
I’m also very very worried that the damage is nearly completely beyond repair.
As we all should.

And I hope this did not end up getting a ‘tl;dr’ from too many folk.

Jul 25, 2012 at 12:10 am · @Reply ·

Michael

Hey, I know! Let’s kill all the homosexuals in a concentration camp.

– Sorry, but it does seem vile homophobia is on the up swing. You have a lot more people and institutions thinking it’s more than OK to come out as anti-gay. Just this past week both the Boy Scouts and Chick-Fil-A felt the climate was good enough for them to make their case.

IMHO, something could easily be coming our way. If Obama loses then I honestly don’t put the idea of concentration camps out of the picture, in fact I put it quite possibly dead in the center.

“The Family” is a evil, evil organization and one has to wonder why the LGBT community is smack right in the middle of it’s radar.

Jul 25, 2012 at 12:27 am · @Reply ·

B

Queerty wrote, “Ugh, can’t we tell Robertson et al there are homosexuals on Mars who need to be discriminated against?”

Alas, that won’t work. They apparently believe that God (real or imagined) created Adam and Eve some 6000 years ago, so there can’t be any life elsewhere. Mars will have to wait until the first gay astronaut lands there.

Jul 25, 2012 at 12:45 am · @Reply ·

Joe

This article is kinda vague on how these groups are actually connected to such legislation – whether they participated, supported, or just spread ideas that were in the same ballpark but not so murdery. What I’m saying is, this doesn’t exactly strike me as a smoking gun or even new information.

Unless the author was trying to say something stronger than “they both talked about hating gay people”. And failed.

If this is just a guilt by association sort of thing, well, there are stronger and more effective ways of pointing out that the Pat Robertsons of the world are douchebags.

Jul 25, 2012 at 2:33 am · @Reply ·

Daez

@Michael: The Boyscouts and Chick-Fil-A have been anti-gay since their inception. What you currently have is a lot more institutions that believe it is alright to come out as pro-gay (A LONG, LONG LIST including most Fortune 500s). The ones that are currently anti-gay are trying to escape the issue (Chick-Fil-A even issued a statement claiming they do not discriminate at all against gays).

You can not honestly believe the bullshit you are spouting about gay concentration camps. You know what happens if Obama loses, the exact same thing that happens if he wins. The population continues to grow in support for the LGBT community and the President and Congress continue to listen to the people that they represent. Romney has no backbone. He sways with the polls. He has never once made any decision based on anything other than how it affects his electability. He is not going to start now (especially in his first four years) and Romney knows that the middle does not buy the insane anti-gay rhetoric and that the right is starting to disappear (or die off) entirely.

The right consists of a bunch of rich old white men who do not want to give up their position of privilege and some misguided souls that believe that they can be rich old white men with privilege if they just believe the lies. In short, if you know anything about the Marxist theory about capitalism, the right is composed entirely of the bourgeois and it is inevitable that they will be overthrown.

Jul 25, 2012 at 8:02 am · @Reply ·

KARUADAM

My country Republic of South Africa, is and will be gay country. All gay right are recognized and protect! what I try to say IS bloody white Christian American, are not welcome in the RSA!! Zambia, is a hole thanks for the USA.

Jul 25, 2012 at 8:36 am · @Reply ·

DF

Whether it be in America or Africa, these organizations prey on the weak minded and fragile people, it is the only way to spread their lies and hate. However the people they help must not be too weak minded or fragile, as they are still pouring money into these groups.

Jul 25, 2012 at 10:33 am · @Reply ·

Colin

@Daez: “The right consists of a bunch of rich old white men who do not want to give up their position of privilege and some misguided souls that believe that they can be rich old white men with privilege if they just believe the lies. In short, if you know anything about the Marxist theory about capitalism, the right is composed entirely of the bourgeois and it is inevitable that they will be overthrown.’

LOL. I hope, for your sake, you don’t really believe this. These are simple delusions that won’t get you anywhere.

Jul 25, 2012 at 12:59 pm · @Reply ·

Jess

Africa has the most uneducated people among all continents. Obviously, the religious right is targeting africans because these religious nut jobs mostly draw their power from people’s outright ignorance.

Jul 25, 2012 at 2:07 pm · @Reply ·

Geoffrey Heaviside

When legislation that threatens the livelihood of 1.6 million people whose embryonic development over which they had no control is introduced into a Parliament the obvious implication is genocide. The only way to eliminate gays anywhere in the world is to stop heterosexuals breeding

Jul 25, 2012 at 5:13 pm · @Reply ·

skeloric

@KARUADAM: good to hear. i hope you retain that sense of Equality for all and are a beacon of Justice and Equality for all to see.
We need your courage and the strength of your convictions to hold against these dangerous ‘false prophets’.

Jul 25, 2012 at 5:20 pm · @Reply ·

Steve

@Michael wrote: “Hey, I know! Let’s kill all the homosexuals in a concentration camp.”

They already tried that, in Germany and Poland, between 1939 and 1946.
It didn’t work out so well.